IN YOUR OPINION

Letters to the Editor for July 20, 2013

Published: Saturday, July 20, 2013 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, July 19, 2013 at 3:30 p.m.

Blair's blindness

Sheriff Blair told the people of Marion County during the recent election campaign that he could fix the department's budget by reducing administrative overhead. Apparently he was either ignorant of the department's problems or just lying to us.

The County Commission, for its part, should not approve the increase in funding that he is seeking. The voters have consistently stated that they are not interested in tax increases. They voted down a tax proposal to fund the capital needs of our community hospital. This has forced the hospital to lease the facility to a for-profit hospital company. They voted down two tax proposals to address the budgetary problems of the school system. This has resulted in the firing of a lot of teachers.

Why does the sheriff think he is exempt from this voter refusal to support tax increases?

Peter Bowers

Ocala

Sheep being led

Good morning, Mr. Orwell, I see 1984 has arrived (if) just a little late! Big Brother is alive and well.

Transparency in the government is almost comical. It reminds me of an old joke. “They, the administration and politicians, insist on treating the American public like mushrooms; they keep us in the dark and continue feeding us ----.” This is apparent, since we still know almost nothing about Fast and Furious, Benghazi and I'm sure many others.

The NSA debacle and other spying programs seem to be fading in the news. This, however, does not mean it is disappearing in the eyes of the American people or those in the international community. Our foreign policy continues to proudly display itself. We are constantly shooting ourselves in the foot.

Our president and his administration are still able to claim deniability. While they skillfully create an atmosphere, they can “see nothing, know nothing and did nothing.” Obviously, it was a low-level employee (in Cincinnati?) that has created all of these scandals, passed laws they don't know how to implement or control and let spending go rampant in the various bureaucracies and government programs.

It appears that we, the American public, will persist in acting like sheep being led to slaughter or remain in the dark while being well-fed.

Gene Addington

Ocala

Thieves in the night

On the night of July 15th a car pulled up in front of our home on Northeast 42nd Street. People got out of the car and came into our front yard and went into a flower bed and stole two items and then took off.

My husband and I were in shock. We had assumed the vehicle was there looking for someone's home to visit. We were very hurt the next day to discover that they were in our yard to steal. What they stole was of NO monetary value, but the sentimental value was beyond value.

The first thing they took was an Army weather vane stand (spray-painted gold) which my husband and I bought. My husband did two tours in Vietnam and spent 22½ years in the Army. It meant a lot to him.

The second thing stolen was an aqua gazing ball on a beige pedestal. It was bought about 15 years ago from a shop in Silver Springs that has since been torn down. The sad thing about that is the fact that the person who bought that passed away six years ago.

Whoever stole from us could have just asked if they needed those items that badly, and we would have gladly given them to them. My husband and I are both retired and our yard is what we enjoy. We are both very hurt and also would like to alert our neighbors as to what to watch for now in our neighborhood.

Whoever stole from us, we forgive you. But if you could please find it in your heart to return the weather vane we would forever be grateful.

Kimberly Richey

Ocala

Florida's self-defense laws and Zimmerman

George Zimmerman was not acquitted on the basis of Florida's Stand Your Ground law. He was acquitted on the basis of self-defense laws, which have been on Florida's books for many years. Stand Your Ground laws call for completely different circumstances than those found in the Zimmerman/Martin incident.

Several decades ago, long before Stand Your Ground, I defended a second-degree murder charge which was eerily similar to the Zimmerman case. A Marion County jury acquitted my client because he was in great fear of death or great bodily harm.

Anyone criticizing the Zimmerman verdict evidently didn't watch much of the trial or listen to the summary of the evidence in final arguments. One of the last photos taken of Trayvon Martin depicted a tall, muscular young man — not the 12-year-old child depicted in the initial photos released. It was this latter Martin who approached Zimmerman — not vice versa — initiated a fight, and immediately broke Zimmerman's nose.

The tussle which resulted included Martin subjecting Zimmerman to “ground and pound” tactics and bashing his head on concrete as he sat astride of Zimmerman.

Even under Florida's older self-defense laws one does not have to wait until they see a bright light at the end of a tunnel and hear angels singing before they defend themselves. There is a duty to retreat, if you can. But that is hard to do when you can't breathe because of a broken nose and are stunned by blows to concrete.

The only thing SYG laws change is to take away the duty to retreat to your home before defending yourself. Leave SYG alone. In today's society, we need it.

<p><b>Blair's blindness</b></p><p>Sheriff Blair told the people of Marion County during the recent election campaign that he could fix the department's budget by reducing administrative overhead. Apparently he was either ignorant of the department's problems or just lying to us.</p><p>The County Commission, for its part, should not approve the increase in funding that he is seeking. The voters have consistently stated that they are not interested in tax increases. They voted down a tax proposal to fund the capital needs of our community hospital. This has forced the hospital to lease the facility to a for-profit hospital company. They voted down two tax proposals to address the budgetary problems of the school system. This has resulted in the firing of a lot of teachers.</p><p>Why does the sheriff think he is exempt from this voter refusal to support tax increases?</p><p><i>Peter Bowers</p><p>Ocala</i></p><p><b>Sheep being led</b></p><p>Good morning, Mr. Orwell, I see 1984 has arrived (if) just a little late! Big Brother is alive and well.</p><p>Transparency in the government is almost comical. It reminds me of an old joke. “They, the administration and politicians, insist on treating the American public like mushrooms; they keep us in the dark and continue feeding us ----.” This is apparent, since we still know almost nothing about Fast and Furious, Benghazi and I'm sure many others.</p><p>The NSA debacle and other spying programs seem to be fading in the news. This, however, does not mean it is disappearing in the eyes of the American people or those in the international community. Our foreign policy continues to proudly display itself. We are constantly shooting ourselves in the foot.</p><p>Our president and his administration are still able to claim deniability. While they skillfully create an atmosphere, they can “see nothing, know nothing and did nothing.” Obviously, it was a low-level employee (in Cincinnati?) that has created all of these scandals, passed laws they don't know how to implement or control and let spending go rampant in the various bureaucracies and government programs.</p><p>It appears that we, the American public, will persist in acting like sheep being led to slaughter or remain in the dark while being well-fed.</p><p><i>Gene Addington</p><p>Ocala</i></p><p><b>Thieves in the night</b></p><p>On the night of July 15th a car pulled up in front of our home on Northeast 42nd Street. People got out of the car and came into our front yard and went into a flower bed and stole two items and then took off.</p><p>My husband and I were in shock. We had assumed the vehicle was there looking for someone's home to visit. We were very hurt the next day to discover that they were in our yard to steal. What they stole was of NO monetary value, but the sentimental value was beyond value.</p><p>The first thing they took was an Army weather vane stand (spray-painted gold) which my husband and I bought. My husband did two tours in Vietnam and spent 22½ years in the Army. It meant a lot to him.</p><p>The second thing stolen was an aqua gazing ball on a beige pedestal. It was bought about 15 years ago from a shop in Silver Springs that has since been torn down. The sad thing about that is the fact that the person who bought that passed away six years ago.</p><p>Whoever stole from us could have just asked if they needed those items that badly, and we would have gladly given them to them. My husband and I are both retired and our yard is what we enjoy. We are both very hurt and also would like to alert our neighbors as to what to watch for now in our neighborhood.</p><p>Whoever stole from us, we forgive you. But if you could please find it in your heart to return the weather vane we would forever be grateful.</p><p><i>Kimberly Richey</p><p>Ocala</i></p><p><b>Florida's self-defense laws and Zimmerman</b></p><p>George Zimmerman was not acquitted on the basis of Florida's Stand Your Ground law. He was acquitted on the basis of self-defense laws, which have been on Florida's books for many years. Stand Your Ground laws call for completely different circumstances than those found in the Zimmerman/Martin incident.</p><p>Several decades ago, long before Stand Your Ground, I defended a second-degree murder charge which was eerily similar to the Zimmerman case. A Marion County jury acquitted my client because he was in great fear of death or great bodily harm.</p><p>Anyone criticizing the Zimmerman verdict evidently didn't watch much of the trial or listen to the summary of the evidence in final arguments. One of the last photos taken of Trayvon Martin depicted a tall, muscular young man — not the 12-year-old child depicted in the initial photos released. It was this latter Martin who approached Zimmerman — not vice versa — initiated a fight, and immediately broke Zimmerman's nose. </p><p>The tussle which resulted included Martin subjecting Zimmerman to “ground and pound” tactics and bashing his head on concrete as he sat astride of Zimmerman.</p><p>Even under Florida's older self-defense laws one does not have to wait until they see a bright light at the end of a tunnel and hear angels singing before they defend themselves. There is a duty to retreat, if you can. But that is hard to do when you can't breathe because of a broken nose and are stunned by blows to concrete.</p><p>The only thing SYG laws change is to take away the duty to retreat to your home before defending yourself. Leave SYG alone. In today's society, we need it.</p><p><i>Albert C. Simmons</p><p>Ocala</i></p>